There is Accounting for Taste
If you’ve ever seen what real creativity can do, what it can build, shift and move, you know it’s not just a decorative flourish. In the world of luxury, creativity is king.
Take Hunter Douglas, the window fashions company. Except they became a whole lot more than that thanks to a creative team that didn’t think like decorators, but like innovators. I had the privilege of building and leading that team for over eight years, and it wasn’t about just making ads. It was about making an impact. We transformed the in-house agency into a creative engine that didn’t just support the brand, it drove it. That vision and execution played no small part in the company’s staggering $7.1 billion acquisition.
Hunter Douglas + The Glass House: Guests experienced total darkness with Duette LightLock Shades in a house that is all about light.
Then there’s Shiseido. In the world of prestige beauty, it’s like walking into a department store where everyone is shouting at once. The challenge? Get heard, without yelling. Over a 16-year collaboration, we helped focus Shiseido’s voice into something unified, elegant, and instantly recognizable. It was about resonance. That steady, strategic creative work helped elevate Shiseido to the top of the global suncare market. Consistency and vision can be radical acts.
And speaking about radical — Swatch. The brand know for plastic watches. When they decided to go metal, they needed more than a product line, they needed a perception shift. So we shot their new watches in a pool of mercury. Literally. Why mercury? Because it contradicts everything we think metal to be, just like swatch contradicts the entire concept of watches. It worked. Sales shot up 26% over goal. Swatch didn’t just sell metal watches. They changed the conversation.
Creativity is the thing that makes people look twice, feel something, and remember you a week later. It’s how a brand becomes a story, and how a story builds a business case. And the best part? It scales. Across markets, across decades, across categories.
Creativity is Currency (and It Pays in Billions).